Sandbag Wall System with United Sandbags

ABSTRACT

A wall-building unit for use in the construction of sandbag-type walls for erosion control, slope stabilization and similar applications comprises an inner bag filled with a fill material and an outer bag extending longitudinally over it so that the bottom of the outer bag is adjacent to and covers the open top edge of the inner bag. The wall-building unit holds more fill material than a conventional sandbag.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention pertains to sandbag wall systems for use in erosioncontrol, flood protection, coastal protection, slope stabilization andsimilar applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the art of erosion control, flood protection, coastal protection,slope stabilization and the like, it is known to build stable andeffective walls of sandbags, preferably using interconnecting plates toconnect the bags together and stabilize the wall. See, for example,international patent publication WO 00/61880 (Kim), dated Oct. 19, 2000.The sandbags used in such systems have hitherto been conventional indesign. In a conventional sandbag, the bag fill volume is limited by thefact that the top edge of the bag must be gathered together and tied inorder to close the bag. It would be desirable to provide a sandbagconfiguration in which the bags could be filled to their top edge, thusholding more fill material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a wall-building unit for use in the constructionof sandbag walls, each unit being made of two bags of the type used forsandbags. Each bag has a bag wall, a closed bottom and an open top edge.The first bag is substantially filled with a fill material. The secondbag extends longitudinally over the first bag so that the bottom of thesecond bag is adjacent to and covers the open top of the first bag. Inone embodiment, the second bag substantially covers the whole of thefirst bag, with the open top edge of the second bag being adjacent tothe closed bottom of the first bag. In another embodiment, the secondbag is shorter than the first bag and covers only part of the first bag,with the top edge of the second bag being positioned longitudinallybetween the open top edge and the closed bottom of the first bag.

These wall-building units, which hold more fill material than aconventional sandbag, are used in place of sandbags in the constructionof retaining walls and erosion control structures.

In this specification, “fill material” means any material that issuitable for use in bags in the construction of walls, including sand,soil, gravel, dry mix concrete (which hardens after wetting and curing)and mixtures thereof, including fill material with seeds for vegetation.The term “sand-bag” as used in this specification means a bag containingany “fill material.” For further clarity, the term is not limited to abag in which the fill material is sand. The term “wall” as used hereinin relation to structures made of wall-building units includes any arrayof wall-building units that is suitable for the purpose of erosioncontrol (for example along shorelines, riverbanks, etc.), flood control,retaining or stabilizing slopes or embankments, noise barriers,landscaping, and for similar applications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art sandbag;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a wall-building unit according to theinvention comprising two bags;

FIG. 3 is a further embodiment of the wall-building unit;

FIG. 4 is an end view on the line 2-2 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is an end view of a further embodiment of the wall-building unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention provides wall-building units comprising a combination oftwo bags. A prior art sandbag containing fill material is shown inFIG. 1. Prior art bag 100 has sewn bottom edge 102 and a side edge 104.It is tied closed at top edge 106 by means of a tie 108. In order to beable to fill the bag, the top edge is pulled together in a cinchedconfiguration, as a result of which the bag cannot be filled to its topedge. The shoulders 110 reflect the reduction in fill volume resultingfrom this closing requirement.

In wall-building unit 120, shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, this loss in fillvolume is eliminated. Inner bag 122 has a bag wall 124, a closed bottom126 and an open top edge 128. The bag wall 124 is sewn closed alonglongitudinal edge 130. Outer bag 132 is of equivalent structure, with abag wall 134 sewn along longitudinal edge 136, and a closed bottom 138and an open top edge 140. The outer bag is positioned to extendlongitudinally over the inner bag 122 so that its closed bottom 138 isadjacent to and covers the open top 128 of the inner bag 122. Thisleaves a space 139 between the two bags which, in practice, is smallbecause the bags are tight fitting. It will be apparent that the innerbag 122 can be filled to its top edge with fill material, since the topedge is not cinched together to close, and the outer bag acts as a coverfor the inner bag.

Referring to the embodiment of FIG. 3, it will be seen that the outerbag can be shorter in length than the inner bag. Outer bag 132A isshorter than the inner bag 122 so its top edge 140 is longitudinallyintermediate the top edge 128 and the bottom 126 of the inner bag.Optionally, the top edge 140 can be attached to the wall of inner bag122 by means of tape, velcro, etc.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the wall-building unit 150 in which theouter bag is double walled. Outer bag 151 comprises an outer wall 152and an inner wall 154. This is formed by two sheets of material (forexample geotextile) sewn together along longitudinal seam 136 and theirbottom end seam. The outer and inner walls are otherwise unattached, soa pocket or space 142 is formed between them. A pre-seeded sheet 146 isplaced in this space, and comprises a sheet of absorbent material withplant seeds affixed or embedded therein. In use, the sheet 146 ispositioned adjacent to the outer face of the wall to provide for thegrowth of vegetation on the wall face as the seeds geminate and theirplant roots grow through the bag walls and into the fill material, forexample soil, inside the inner bag 122. A pre-seeded sheet 146 canlikewise be placed in space 138 between the inner bag and the outer bagin the embodiments of FIGS. 2-4.

To construct a retaining wall using the wall-building units of FIGS. 2to 5, the wall-building units are arranged in the same ways as are theprior art sandbags of FIG. 1, arrangements that are well-known in theprior art. In addition to holding more fill than the prior art bag,since the wall-building units are effectively double-walled (ortriple-walled for the embodiment of FIG. 5) they are very effective atholding fine fill material, such as clay soils that are commonly used asfill materials in wet areas. They are accordingly particularly usefulfor erosion control walls along shorelines, streams, etc.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of theforegoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible inthe practice of this invention without departing from the scope thereof.Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordancewith the substance defined by the following claims.

1. A wall-building unit for use in the construction of walls,comprising: (a) a first bag having a bag wall, a closed bottom and anopen top edge, said bag being substantially filled with a fill material;and (b) a second bag having a bag wall, a closed bottom and an open topedge, said second bag extending longitudinally over said first bag suchthat said bottom of said second bag is adjacent to and covers said opentop edge of said first bag.
 2. A wall-building unit according to claim 1wherein said open top edge of said second bag is adjacent to said closedbottom of said first bag.
 3. A wall-building unit according to claim 1said second bag has a length that is less than the length of said firstbag and said open top edge of said second bag is positionedlongitudinally between said open top edge and said closed bottom of saidfirst bag.
 4. A wall-building unit according to claim 1 furthercomprising a pre-seeded sheet between said first bag and said secondbag.
 5. A wall-building unit according to claim 1 wherein said bag wallof said second bag includes a pocket containing a pre-seeded sheet.
 6. Awall comprising a plurality of courses of wall-building units accordingto claim 1.